It’s impossible to know what ‘might’ happen

French Republican Guards and cadets from the joint-army military school (Ecole Militaire Interarmes, EMIA) carry the ...more

French Republican Guards and cadets from the joint-army military school (Ecole Militaire Interarmes, EMIA) carry the coffin of late Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame during a national ceremony for Beltrame, on March 28, 2018 at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris.

It’s been three weeks since he was buried in a French national ceremony, complete with a eulogy by President Emmanuel Macron. Yet I remain awed by the courage he showed in a time of crisis.

Beltrame was the police officer who died last month during a terrorist attack in southwest France. He offered himself as a human sacrifice, exchanging places with a hostage and engaging the killer face to face.

Beltrame had the presence of mind to leave his cellphone running so other officers could monitor the situation. Hearing gunshots, they stormed the room, killing the culprit, but not before Beltrame had been shot four times and his throat slit.

Sam Venable, KNS columnist

Sam Venable, KNS columnist

Paul Efird

History is rife with heroes just like him.

Some were soldiers, like 19-year-old Army Spec. Ross Andrew McGinnis of Pittsburgh. While deployed in Iraq in 2006, McGinnis threw himself on an enemy grenade, sparing the lives of four of his fellow soldiers. Name any war, and you will find dozens of similar examples.

Some were civil servants, like Miki Endo of Minamisanriku, Japan, who worked for her town’s crisis management department. When a devastating tsunami struck in 2011, she remained at her post, broadcasting alerts over a loudspeaker until the waves swept her away.

Some were everyday citizens, like Arland Williams from Mattoon, Illinois. In 1982, Williams was a passenger aboard a jetliner that crashed on takeoff from Washington, D.C., claiming 78 lives. Williams was one of six people who initially survived the disaster. As the plane sank in the Potomac River, he helped the other five to safety before he drowned.

The officer who offered to be swapped for a female hostage was identified as Col. Arnaud Beltrame.

The officer who offered to be swapped for a female hostage was identified as Col. Arnaud Beltrame.

AP Images

What makes these people perform such acts of valor?

Is it a deliberate decision or spur-of-the-moment reaction?

Do they, even for a millisecond, weigh the odds of their own survival? Or do they remain so focused on the task at hand they literally never know what hits them?

Forget what “might” happen any time, any place, any circumstance.

French President Emmanuel Macron leans at the coffin of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame after he has been ...more

French President Emmanuel Macron leans at the coffin of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame after he has been posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor, Wednesday March 28, 2018 at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris. The slain hero of last week's extremist attack in southern France will be posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Emmanuel Macron during a solemn day-long national homage to him. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Christophe Ena, AP

No matter what anyone predicts he or she would do — or not do — under the same conditions, nothing is certain until the moment arrives. Even if someone has trained professionally and extensively for such a dire situation, all bets are off when it actually occurs.

Shortly after the massacre at a Florida school in February, President Donald Trump told an audience at the White House, “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”

Given Hizzoner’s long record of hot-air nonsense, one is tempted to blow off such braggadocio with “yeah, right.”

But until the moment comes, I don’t know, you don’t know, Donald Trump doesn’t know.